| Author |
Message |
Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Friday, December 21, 2018 - 9:42 am 
I get the majority of my books from bookbub - mostly free but yesterday I paid to download "In Plain Sight" by Katherine Casey (it cost $1.99 - I'm a big spender obviously). It is the true crime story of the murders of an Assistant District Attorney and the District Attorney and his wife in Kaufman County, Texas (where I live). I honestly couldn't stop reading it! I have always been a fan of true crime and of course when it is relatable to you...I kept possessions in the same storage unit facility as where the murderer had a unit, I have parked in the parking lot where Mark Haase was murdered, I have had friends work in the courthouse and who knew all the people involved, and I have walked the square in Kaufman where the killer's law office was.
The intricacies of the mind are fascinating, especially when it comes to what causes someone to commit heinous crimes.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Saturday, December 22, 2018 - 3:16 pm
About to start The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The main character has to solve the death in 8 days and each day he wakes up inhabiting a body of the 8 witnesses. A.J. Finn who wrote The Woman in the Window said it is brilliant and he wishes he wrote the story. As his book was one of my favorites of the year, I hope this doesn't disappoint.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, December 22, 2018 - 6:58 pm
I finally found a copy of A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey at the library. I thought it was going to be dull, I guess because he's always struck me as dull when he's been interviewed or otherwise shown on television. The book is really quite engaging and I liked it much more than I thought I would. Plus, from a historical perspective, I'm glad he wrote it to add to what is sure to be a long list of books that document the wacko actions inflicted on our country by the current White House occupant.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, December 22, 2018 - 9:18 pm
A very long list, definitely.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 23, 2018 - 2:21 pm
Finished {The Bright Hour}.. Touching and excellent. Nina as mom, wife, daughter, friend, poet, author..
Next book, Shattered Innocence bio of Kaycee Dugard.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, December 24, 2018 - 9:12 am
I love the access I get with Overdrive and our Michigan electronic library, but just yesterday I actually ordered full price paperbacks on Amazon because the trilogy was not available at ANY library in Michigan! I'd gotten the ONE copy of the first book that was in the state, and while the main story ended, there were loose threads hanging. It's not available on Kindle, so three dead tree books are coming my way.
ETA: It's the Andy McNab Tom Buckingham trilogy (Red Notice, Fortress, State of Emergency). Thoroughly enjoyed the first one and am looking forward to the next two.
I'm also half-way through Warlight: A Novel and almost done listening to Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. Since I have 2 Kindles, I also started How to Kill Friends and Implicate People by Scottish author Jay Springer. He wouldn't be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoy his books.
Did I mention that it's Christmas break and I'm reading A LOT??? LOL
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, December 25, 2018 - 8:36 pm
Teach, I’m thrilled for you when this time of year rolls around. 😛
Some of you are probably familiar with Lisa Jewell’s works, but I only recently became aware of her. I checked out her debut, from 1999, Ralph’s Party. She’s gone on to write about a dozen others - this first one was quite good (a story of complicated relationships among four couples in turn of the 21st century London).
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, December 25, 2018 - 9:41 pm
So the book wasn't as much about Jaycee as about the creeps who abducted her and how they should never have had the opportunity. Interesting book, tough.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, December 26, 2018 - 9:55 am
I just started reading Lisa Jewell's books. I read Then She Was Gone, which was great and her new one, Watching You, which I also loved. I have a few more that I got as ARCs but never got around to reading them yet but I will sooner than later.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Wednesday, December 26, 2018 - 12:41 pm
I've read Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. I'll add Watching You to my list and also check out some of her earlier books. Thanks, Mamie and Uncle Ricky. 
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, December 26, 2018 - 6:10 pm
Finished both Warlight and How to Kill Friends and Implicate People. Debating on which two Kindle books to load next - love having that problem! Here are my options & I'm open for recommendations:
The Wife Between Us
Shadow of Night (2nd Discovery of Witches)
Seven Troop: Th Incredible True SAS Story
The Hypnotist's Love Story
The Handmaid's Tale
Less
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, December 27, 2018 - 12:52 pm
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story With Wings.
Telegraph Hill in San Francisco.
I had seen the very engaging documentary long ago.
The book is interesting, the author a bit less engaging, so far.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Thursday, December 27, 2018 - 8:27 pm
Teach, I would recommend Less only because I read and liked it.
Mamie and Rieann, thanks for the endorsements of the Jewell titles you've read. I'm sure her later works are much better than the earlier efforts.
This afternoon I finished the latest by George Pelecanos, The Man Who Came Uptown. His books are always so clean and simple (but not too simple). This one features a great sub-plot involving a prison librarian who encourages the inmates of a Washington, DC prison to pursue reading various works of literature.
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Chewpito
Member
01-03-2004
| Thursday, December 27, 2018 - 9:17 pm
I read' or listened, to 'The wife between us', I remember it was good, in that I wanted to find out what was going on, but I was always confused. I cant remember if I was gratified, but I do remember it..
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, December 28, 2018 - 6:44 pm
Have started The Wife Between Us and downloaded Less as well as a Jack Reacher novel. That should keep me sorted through the weekend.
THANKS!
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, December 28, 2018 - 9:34 pm
I'll be interested to hear what you think of The Wife Between Us.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, December 29, 2018 - 6:06 pm
Stormy Daniels exceeded my expectations by putting together a really good narrative about her life up to the present with Full Disclosure. She had a rough childhood but she never points to that as an excuse for how she came to be an exotic dancer or an adult-film celebrity. She not only writes candidly, she also has a style that is very straightforward and bracingly matter-of-fact. I admired her before I read her book and now I admire her even more. She’s a flawed individual as well as a remarkably strong survivor.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Saturday, December 29, 2018 - 6:28 pm
I just finished "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. It was good. And no, I have never seen any of the movies.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, December 29, 2018 - 7:51 pm
Still reading the parrot book.
I took two big bags of dead tree books to donate to the Brady and snagged two books for a dollar each. In the end I will re-donate them.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, December 29, 2018 - 11:49 pm
So, one of the new books took me way back to Deal World 3 San Francisco, with Pedro Zamora. This is a graphic book, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, & What I Learned, illustrated and written by Judd Winick Pedro's roomie. It was written for any age but directed at students.
Really well done and left me in tears, remembering what a loss it was that Pedro died. He actually had a very rare complication of HIV, Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy.
I had known Bill Clinton had called Pedro, but not that he, Janet Reno, Donna Shalala worked to get his family still in Cuba the ability to come to Miami to see Pedro before he died.
Anyway, I read the whole book in one sitting.
Back to the parrots now.
The other one I got is a Fredrik Bachman. I have only read his first book as the kindle versions never seen to go on sale. So I have a pristine hardback for a dollar.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 30, 2018 - 5:30 pm
Finished the Parrots..
Starting Sally Field's In Pieces which had a price drop.. Not as low as I usually go for, but I had it on my list. And I had a $1.75 credt. Then I got $2 credit for buying it. Works for me.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, December 30, 2018 - 5:38 pm
The loss of Zamora was very sad indeed, Sea.
During the course of reading the latest by George Pelecanos last week, the prison librarian character in The Man Who Came Uptown introduces the writer Willy Vlautin to the prison inmates, specifically Vlautin's novel, Northline.
That book sounded interesting enough for me to look into it. It's Vlautin's second novel, so that forced me to seek out his first, The Motel Life, which I finished this afternoon. It's a marvelous debut about two brothers in Reno, NV who encounter one setback after another. It's borderline depressing, but more hopeful than anything. Vlautin writes really, really well. I expect all his books to match the quality of his first.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, December 30, 2018 - 6:57 pm
The Wife Between Us is very good - some twists, some excitement, some drama...perfect for the holidays and only 75 pages to finish up tonight!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 30, 2018 - 6:58 pm
Yes,so sad.. And beck when MTV could create a show with actual value. Mary Ellis Him In was a big loss when she died.
The book was part of a program for incoming freshmen at UCLA. ( a far cry from my freshman year at Berkeley, I just say)
Anyway a very well done book. Pedro could have gone to any university but he was so vulnerable after he was in the Mariel Boat Lift with his parents and one sister and brother. All the older siblings and families were denied leaving Cuba at the last minute.
He was gay, but had family support. Hosever, his mother died very young of skin cancer and he was kind of at the mercy of older guys and unprotected sex.
So when he finally was diagnosed with HIV, he decided, after giving a talk to his class, and being asked to give the talk to the whole school, that since he had a strong message.. He pulled no punches in telling make and female students to use and to demand protection.. that he could have more impact being an activist instead of going to college right away. At that time, he wasn't thinking he wouldn't beat the disease.
But he had time to be on Real World and influence more people and especially Judd and Pam and Judd did complete all the talks Pedro was unable to fulfill.
This copy was signed to the original owner by Judd.
I am getting in a bit more reading even with a few holiday gatherings, as we finished our singing gigs for the year. I do have a few drives of patients. Thursday I drive a sweet man who lives in a motel and is a handyman there, despite dealing with a colostomy due to colon cancer and now possible prostate or another tumor from the colon. Any time I have a complaint, I think of him and others..
So.. Sally is ready to be read.
Ric, you certainly find author who lead you to a new stack of books...
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, January 01, 2019 - 12:54 am
Yes, Sea, I can't shake that habit of adding even more titles to an already huge stack.
Just now I finished Attack of the Theater People by Marc Acito. It's the follow-up to his debut How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater. It brings back the same characters, all of whom get up to even more improbable shenanigans. It was a fun read with numerous laugh-out-loud scenes. He's not written any books since then (2008) because he's been concentrating on writing plays. I'll be on the lookout for his third novel should it ever materialize.
Attack of the Theater People was also the 71st book I read in 2018, so that tops my previous high of 67 titles read (back in 2016). I know that's not really that impressive a figure, but considering that I can't read while I'm at work all day during the week, I'm very pleased with the total.
I hope everyone has a fabulous 2019 and that all the books you read are winners!
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